Munich. Salvador Lamas has a plan that can be summarized in one number: 1.7 billion euros. This is how much sales the French graphite group Mersen wants to generate by 2029 – around 400 million euros more than this year. Lamas wants to get some of the growth in Germany, of all places, with the help of a material that many believe has a great future: graphite.
The material is robust, conductive and heat-resistant - and therefore indispensable for armaments, space travel and the energy transition. Mersen is one of the largest providers in the world. The German market, which currently only accounts for eight percent of group sales, is expected to soon grow in double digits. And of all things, a German competitor comes into focus.
“We have a clear path ahead of us and know that we are better positioned to face challenges than others,” explains Salvador Lamas, 53, who has been CEO since May, in an interview with Handelsblatt. The company's own “footprint” is unique and a lot has been invested: “Our business is currently at the upper end of expectations for 2026.”
In July, the global expert for high-quality materials (“advanced materials”) and for electrical specialties related to the energy transition revised its outlook for the year upwards. In terms of returns, this meant: from 8.5 to up to 9.5 percent.
The son of a Mexican father and a Spanish mother, who grew up in Mexico, had been preparing for the managerial role at Mersen for a whole year. Its 7,250 employees are active in 32 countries and 54 industrial plants.
Germany plays a special role in this. After all, the German manufacturer Willy Blumenthal, a Jewish philanthropist, played a key role early on in the company, which was founded in 1889. During the Nazi era, the business of the manufacturer of carbon brushes for electric motors was completely diverted to the Frankfurt branch. They are still a leader in the carbon brush business, now with a view to large industrial applications. The cars and household appliances division was sold in 2009.
There is great potential in the German market, says Lamas: "We will get better there. I love Germany more and more." The German share of Mersen's total sales should soon reach double digits. After all, we have the right products for the energy transition, such as solar and wind power. Along with France, the USA, Canada and China, Germany is a core market for Mersen.
If you look at the geopolitical position, the market applications and the type of graphite supplied, then Mersen is in the top three of the overall market, says Giovanni Selvetti, analyst at Berenberg Bank. The main rivals are Toyo Tanso and Tokai Carbon from Japan as well as SGL Carbon and Schunk from Germany.
In fact, the company SGL Carbon has come to the attention of the French. It recently only generated 850 million euros (minus 17 percent). The headquarters of the company, in which BMW partner Susanne Klatten is a major shareholder, will move from Wiesbaden to the production site in Meitingen near Augsburg at the beginning of 2027. Salvador Lamas: "I can certainly imagine a closer cooperation with SGL Carbon. That could make sense, but it has to be beneficial for both."
Possible cooperation discussions with Mersen are “not known in our company,” comments a spokeswoman for SGL Carbon. They are two independent, listed companies whose business models only partially overlap.
Despite the distance, both companies are pursuing a similar strategy: to benefit from the booming aerospace and defense markets with high-purity graphite felt electrodes. Graphite is a strategic raw material that is used in rocket technologies, drones, radar systems and auxiliary engines. The US Defense Logistics Agency selected Mersen as a supplier.
Graphite has a “bright future,” says CEO Lamas, and only a few materials are suitable for such difficult environmental conditions as in space travel. The Indian researchers at Mordor Intelligence assume an average growth rate of 9.91 percent in the graphite market.
According to Lamas, the material ensures efficiency in the world of consumers - for whom, however, it remains an invisible commodity. When friends or family ask him what exactly he does for a living, Lamas quickly names products such as cell phone glass or wireless headphones, all of which would be unthinkable without the use of graphite: “So you can say: Mersen is everywhere!”
The CEO names railways as another growth zone. An increasing number of orders are also coming from US data centers to which backups are supplied. The semiconductors used there require high-purity silicon, which also requires graphite to produce. The French supplier in Shanghai works closely with CATL, the Chinese global market leader for electric car batteries.
The company's own growth targets include 100 million euros in new sales through acquisitions by 2029. CEO Lamas speaks of “a pipeline of opportunities that we may follow, especially in Europe, in North America and – why not – in India”. At 43 percent, most sales currently occur in North America, followed by Europe (33 percent) and Asia-Pacific (21 percent). Mersen has repeatedly acquired companies in the past, such as the German family business GAB Neumann, a heat exchanger specialist, in 2019.
Europe needs to become more agile because China is so fast, Lamas warns: "If you're late, you sometimes don't get to the buffet on time - and there's nothing left to eat."
To finance the expansion, Mersen raised more than 200 million euros in 2024 and 2025 by selling promissory notes via “private placements”. The list of institutional investors holding shares in Mersen ranges from the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund to asset managers such as Vanguard. The state investment bank Bpifrance is in charge with more than ten percent of the capital.
Investments are not only made in acquisitions: Mersen is increasingly relying on artificial intelligence in 24 research and development centers. The new unit “Mersen International” is intended to make findings from the individual national companies usable throughout the group – a kind of internal ideas exchange. Lamas also seeks close exchanges with industrial customers.
If Mersen fulfills its growth plan year after year, that will be good news for shareholders, investors and market observers, says Lamas. In normal times that would be sufficient - but since Covid we have been dealing with a “crazy world”. That's why a committed team is needed. Lamas, on the other hand, doesn't believe in actionist "hundred-day plans": "One of my main tasks is to prepare the company for the next 140 years."
